Podcasting at NABJ

By Jessica Hayden
Staff Writer

At the National Association of Black Journalists convention 2019 held in Miami, FL more than 4,000 multimedia students, media companies, journalists sought employment opportunities, professional growth and development, fellowship and attending workshops geared towards your future goals in life.

This year’s conference was twice as amazing as last year’s when more than 3,000 gathered in Detroit. This convention is the true definition of multimedia excellence; giving back by educating students through intense programs, mentorship opportunities, and hands-on sessions. There were so many outstanding speakers to educate, inspire and entertain.

One of the many outstanding workshops was the Innovation of Creating a Podcast session, which was very enlightening because the panel was filled with amazing Black women. The panelists expressed the importance of a healthy work environment and shared examples of mistreatment in the workspace. It was great to hear that sometimes your ideas can sound like they’re not engaging to your team members when you’re a woman, but when you prove them wrong, and then they will see.

Tracy Clayton encouraged attendees to “not compare yourself to someone else’s work because you may have more obstacles to overcome” and make sure you are getting everything in writing when it comes to any job offer you would receive. One of the female panelists spoke about what she did at one of her previous posts, which sounded fun until speaking of a lack of communication between her and co-workers, which made things difficult.

That’s when she decided to quit that job and go after her dreams. You do not want to wake up one morning saying “I wish I would have gone after what could have made me happy.” Another message I got was that nothing is wrong with planning out your next steps to your end goal. If you want to have a successful podcast, attendees were told it will take time to grow a big fan base for your podcast, but do not give up because it will work out if you continuously work on it.

Also, the panelists said look into asking your friends to be on the show to promote your brand, which will help more people can connect with you. Trying to do everything on your own is not always the best way to go about getting your brand noticed.

For the college students, they should conduct a focus group and share their podcast information with everyone they know. It is also best to start developing your podcast now so that you are closer to creating content for the show. Leaving the convention, I walked away with an important message, “believe in yourself because only you can make your desires come alive in life.”